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By
EWAN KENNEDY
6 December 2011
Japanese automotive giant Toyota wants to put fun back into
motoring. Naturally, Toyota being Toyota, it plans to add the fun
to vehicles in a socially responsible manner, so one of the new
fun oriented vehicles will be a hybrid.
Aware that younger people are less interested in cars than they
were a decade or two back, Toyota has taken a fresh look at its
products and revealed them to the world at the 2011 Tokyo Motor
Show. We attended the show as guests of Toyota and not only looked
over, around and under the new models but also had the opportunity
to talk to the engineering brains and styling behind them.
Let’s look at the fun cars first, Toyota is getting back into
the sports coupe market with a replacement for the Celica.
Originally called the FT-86, this new model is simply called the
86 in some markets and GT-86 in others. At this early stage no
decision has been made on its Australian name. It’s been
designed in partnership with Subaru as this market segment is
relatively small and sharing the expenses will let the Toyota 86
and the Subaru BRZ be retailed at a reasonably level.
We
will be spending time driving the new 200 horsepower (147 kW)
Toyota coupe at the Mount Fuji racetrack in a couple of days and
will report on its on-track performance soon afterwards. Road
tests in normal conditions will probably have to wait until the
Australian launch of the 86 coupe in mid-2012.
The Toyota Prius C is a compact city car that will be launched in
Australia early next year. A Yaris-sized car, the hybrid
powerplants are aimed at making it a relatively affordable,
fun-to-drive vehicle with very low fuel consumption. Funkiness and
frugality look like joining forces in this new Toyota C-car. It
certainly has the sort of style that will appeal to the young and
the young at heart.
Next
comes the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, a new model with a
high-capacity lithium-ion battery that can be charged from a
household outlet. It can operate as an electric vehicle on short
trips and as a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle on medium to long
trips. A production model is planned for launch in early 2012 with
an EV cruising range on fully charged battery of 23.4 km and
introduces the next generation of petrol-electric Toyota vehicles.
The
latest in a series of Toyota electric concept cars, the FT-EV III
is an ultra-compact and lightweight package suitable for
short-distance trips. Equipped with a lithium-ion battery, the FT-EV
III achieves an estimated cruising range of as much as 105
kilometres on a fully charged battery.
Looking
further into the future, Toyota has displayed a concept fuel-cell
vehicle (FCV) planned for launch in about four years. With the
fuel-cell unit under the body, the Toyota FCV can accommodate up
to four passengers and has good luggage space.
Toyota
FCV is fuelled by hydrogen, a low CO2 fuel that can be produced
from a variety of sources and is easy transport. Toyota says the
fuel cell stack, consisting of a high-pressure hydrogen tank, has
been improved to provide a cruising distance of approximately 700
km under test conditions.
Finally, the Toyota Fun-Vii is a quirky concept vehicle heralds a
future where Toyota says people, their cars and society are all
linked.
The plug-in hybrid vehicle represents the technology TMC considers
best suited for widespread use to meet CO2 emissions restrictions
and the diversification of energy.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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